Corona Virus is not just about health

Corona Virus is not just about health

From the very beginning, it has become self-evident that the crisis generated by Corona Virus affects every aspect of our daily existence. It is about social cohesion, financial stability and beliefs linked to political developments and geopolitical realities.

AIDs started in Africa. Corona Virus started in a Chinese province -although some say that the real sources of AIDs and Corona Virus did not come to be by mere accident. The fact remains that the entire world has been shaken by Corona Virus and will continue to be affected in years to come. 

Because we are in Europe, let's look at events from an European perspective. Some of the main countries of the European Union have affected. France, Spain and Italy are now almost in a lockdown state. Others are moving in the same direction. 

For a brief moment, all the talk about Brexit and European deals, the immigration crisis, even terrorism have been left behind by Corona Virus. But let's make no mistake. The said issues are still very much the order of the day. They are not going away.

I always wondered about the fact that many regulations and mechanisms were in place to deal with animals and plants, but very little was in place to deal with health risks generated by the transit of human beings from one country to another. There was quarantine for dogs and cast, but little or nothing was there regarding human beings.

I could say that almost for the first time health measures have been put in place to deal with health risks associated with human beings. We need to start taking health issues related to migration very seriously. Whatever happens after the present crisis, we need to rethink the ways in which we deal with people coming in. Are they healthy? Do they carry deadly diseases that we don't now about?

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was very candid, extremely honest, about what Corona Virus will cause and stated that some families will lose loved ones. This is the grim reality of dealing with a viral infection. Yes. People will die and people have already died. But as Josef Stalin himself said it: one person's death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic. We don't know how many are going to die and we cannot foresee the number of those who are going to die. No one has a crystal ball. What we do know is that the present crisis should be a lesson, an incentive, to take the necessary measures to deal with migration as a way to minimize risks. 

When we take in people coming from all over the world, we need to ensure that they are healthy and this is a matter of national security.